Approaches to youth unemployment and NEETS – international examples

Figures on the UK’s youth unemployment paint a worrying picture and policy makers across Europe increasingly stress the importance of high quality vocational education.

The numbers of 15-24 year olds unemployed in the UK is significantly above the EU average; the proportion not in education training or employment is also higher; and the UK also has the largest absolute number of unemployed young people of all EU member states.

There is substantial evidence that funding for colleges and universities is an investment in the country’s future, both in terms of the ability to create jobs and help deliver social and economic equity. Currently spending on tertiary education by the UK is around 1.3% of gross domestic product. This compares to the average in OECD countries of 1.6%, with the UK well below leading economies such as the USA and Korea (2.6%), Canada (2.5%), Sweden (1.8%) and Japan (1.6%). We want the UK governments to take a lead in raising funding for tertiary education to the OECD average of 1.6% of GDP.

What our supporters say

“There is no real economic case for cuts in education, the problem is the concentration of money at the top end of the wealth range. Governments will want fewer fully educated people but as alerted citizens we must react and support a healthy society made of informed people.”